Red

The Quinjet

Natasha's POV

I left Clint's side and paced across the Quinjet, anxiously waiting for Steve and the girl to return. I finally saw a familiar mop of dirty blonde hair approaching. The girl he was with had long ratted red hair. She was dressed in a loose fitting gray dress. Her wrists were scarred and bloodied. Pity filled me looking at her. Once they arrived on the ship, Tony took off.

"So who's little red?" Tony asked, setting the autopilot. Steve cleared his throat.

"Guys, this is Kamila Orlova." My heart stopped at the name. It couldn't be her. Could it? No, she's dead. I studied the girl and tried to imagine her around chest high, with short red hair. I could see a resemblance. There was something in her eyes that unnerved me. She had this look that was far too old for someone her age. Like she'd witnessed death many times.

I looked away from her and went to sit beside Bruce. He paused the music and took off the headphones he was wearing.

"Hey, the lullaby worked better than ever." I told him.

"Just wasn't expecting a code green."

"You hadn't been there, there would have been double the casualties. My best friend would've been a treasured memory." A small smile crossed my lips.

"You know, sometimes exactly what I want to hear, isn't exactly what I want to hear." I sighed a little on the inside.

"How long before you trust me?"

"It's not you I don't trust." Bruce replied. I sighed, this time audibly.

"Thor, report on the Hulk." I asked.

"The gates of Hel are filled with the screams of his victims." Bruce groaned and I glared at Thor.

"But not the screams of the dead, of course. No, no, wounded screams. Mainly whimpering, a great deal of complaining and tales of sprained deltoids and gout." Thor tried to recover. Bruce had his head in his hands.

"Hey Banner, Dr. Cho is on her way in from Seoul. Is it okay if she sets up in your lab?"

"Uh yeah. She knows her way around."

I glanced over at the girl. She had seated herself down against the edge of the jet, her eyes closed. I studied her more closely. While she was sleeping, you could see how young she was. If it was somehow Kamila, she'd be maybe twenty. In the Red Room, we didn't have birthdays, so when she was little we decided to make some up.

The Red Room. That was a name that hadn't crossed my mind since that fateful day in Washington D.C. I shook my head, trying to get rid of the memories that came flooding back. We landed and I followed the medical team with Clint.

"Are you sure he's gonna be okay? Pretending to need this guy really brings the team together." I teased, looking at him.

"There's no possibility of deterioration. The nano-molecular functionality is instantaneous. His own cells don't know they're bonding with simulacra." Dr. Cho said.

"She's creating tissue." Bruce translated. I gave him a small smile.

"If you brought him to my lab, the Regeneration Cradle could do this in 20 minutes." She added.

"Oh, he's flat-lining. Call it. Time?" Tony said, coming into the lab.

"No, no, no, I'm gonna live forever." Clint chuckled. "I'm gonna be made of plastic." Tony handed Clint a drink.

"You'll be made of you, Mr. Barton." Cho told him. "Your own girlfriend won't be able to tell the difference."

"Well I don't have a girlfriend."

"That I can't fix." He and I exchanged a look and I internally smirked at his comment.

"Your metal suits are going to be left in the dust." Cho told Tony.

"That is exactly the plan." He replied. I grabbed one of the drinks Tony had brought in, before walking to my room.